Removing obstacles to labor export in mountainous areas

Efficiency from labor export

Returning from Ham Yang district (South Korea) under a seasonal contract, Mr. Dinh Van Thoi and his wife, Ms. Ho Thi Tuyet (Tra Mai commune, Nam Tra My mountainous district, Quang Nam) could not hide their excitement, completely different from the anxiety and concern they had when they first sent their three children to South Korea.

“The trip was a success beyond expectations, each month the couple earned 75 million VND, the boss saw that we worked hard, so he gave us extra living allowance. After 5 months of traveling, the couple saved more than 350 million VND.”

Mr. Thoi and his wife are among the first 23 workers in Nam Tra My to go to Korea in 2022. Before going abroad, they had access to preferential loans of 40 - 80 million VND/person through the channels of the Agricultural Bank and the District Social Policy Bank.

Responding to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Qui Quy - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Quang Nam - said that the province's work of sending workers to work abroad in the recent period has achieved better results than the previous period.

From 2021 to present, Quang Nam has sent 3,993 workers to work abroad under contracts, reaching 80% of the plan for the period 2021 - 2025 (sending 5,000 workers to work abroad under contracts). The province also has many effective models of cooperation between government - schools - enterprises, which are trusted and assured by workers to participate in working abroad.

Innovation to improve efficiency

According to Mr. Tran Anh Tuan - Vice Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee, supporting workers to work abroad is a way to open up prospects for people in mountainous areas to escape poverty, however, the work of supporting workers in poor districts to work abroad is still difficult. In which, the most important subject is the workers themselves, because the majority of ethnic minorities in poor districts have the habit of being afraid to work far away, even within the country.

In addition, businesses - partners who act as bridges need to be more attentive, responsible, innovative in their work methods, and more socialized to support the poor in accessing effective policies...

Sharing about the local approach, Mr. Tran Duy Dung - Chairman of Nam Tra My District People's Committee - said that the average income of overseas workers is 25-40 million VND/month. To maintain capital for overseas workers, avoiding the situation where those who work are exhausted and those who stay at home spend lavishly, the district has agreed with households to open bank cards.

“Each month, a household can only withdraw a maximum of 4 million VND to cover living expenses. Thanks to that, it helps overseas workers return home with capital to build houses, shop and invest in business,” Mr. Dung informed.

Speaking at the conference on sending workers to work abroad in 2024, organized by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the People's Committee of Quang Nam province in mid-September 2024, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan noted that the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2021 - 2025 is almost over, with only 16 months left to implement. Therefore, he suggested that the Department of Overseas Labor Management should study and propose solutions to promote this work after the conference.

Choose suitable programs, prioritize workers to participate in foreign language training programs such as Korean and Japanese to work in these countries. For markets that do not require high foreign language requirements, create conditions for workers to access, especially workers in poor districts.

For businesses, Mr. Hoan suggested that they should accompany localities in supporting orientation training and education, classifying subjects, and supporting in solving financial difficulties so that workers have the opportunity to access work abroad.